Jean-Léonard Rugambage

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Twenty years after massacres, Rwanda stable but its media restricted

The Rwandan government has taken great strides in bringing stability to the country since the 1994 genocide that claimed 800,000 lives, but moves to allow greater press freedom have been slow. While government control of the media has loosened, many journalists remain fearful that the regulations are not enough to stop the harassment and threats, and that a lack of investment is damaging their professional reputation. A special report of the Committee to Protect Journalists by Anton Harber

"Do not forget the genocide," said the voice of a state
broadcast announcer in Kigali crackling through a cheap car radio, referring to
the organized slaughter 20 years ago of more than 10 percent of the population.
"We are all one now," he said, speaking in Rwanda's common language of
Kinyarwanda, and meaning that Rwandans no longer identify themselves as being
either Hutu or Tutsi.

Among the 232 journalists imprisoned
around the world are Rwandan editors Agnès Uwimana and Saidati Mukakibibi, who are serving years-long
terms on charges they defamed the president, Paul Kagame, and incited violence.
Their crime? The women had published a series of stories in 2010
on several sensitive issues the Kagame government doesn't want scrutinized. The
articles criticized government agricultural policy, examined the July 2010 murder
of journalist Jean-Léonard Rugambage, described the falling-out between Kagame
and two now-exiled military leaders, probed divisions within the army, and
pushed for justice for ethnic Hutus killed in the 1994 genocide. The editors
have exhausted domestic appeals, but now a team of defense lawyers is pursuing
a complaint with the African Commission on
Human and People's Rights on grounds that Rwanda violated its obligations
to ensure freedom of expression and the right to fair trial.

This week, CPJ published its year-end analysis of
work-related fatalities among journalists. Six of the 42 victims worked online.
While you can read the full statistics and our special report elsewhere, I want to highlight
the stories of these six journalists who worked on the Web.

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New York, June 29,
2010—Authorities in Rwanda announced on Monday the arrest of two individuals
in the murder of journalist Jean-Léonard
Rugambage, who was shot late Thursday as he drove through the gate to his
home in Kigali, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists
expressed skepticism about the arrests and called on authorities to disclose
details of their investigation.

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New York, June 25, 2010—A top editor of an independent Rwandan newspaper that was recently banned by the government was assassinated in front of his home late Thursday, according to local journalists and news reports. An assailant shot Jean-Léonard Rugambage, left, acting editor of Umuvugizi as he drove through the gate of his home in the capital, Kigali, around 10 p.m., Rwanda National police spokesperson Eric Kayiranga told CPJ.

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In response to international media reports that Jean-Léonard Rugambage, the deputy editor of the suspended independent newspaper Umuvugizi, was shot dead late Thursday in the Rwandan capital of Kigali, the Committee to Protect Journalists released the following statement: